As reported by Insider Gaming and first spotted by Battlefield YouTuber DannyonPC, FPS veteran and Halo co-creator Marcus Lehto appears to have left his director position at Ridgeline Games, an EA subsidiary, where he was working on the next Battlefield game.
As art director on the first three Halo games, Lehto had a massive impact on the sci-fi series’ iconic look. Lehto was then creative director on the latter Halo games made by Bungie and part of the original Destiny team before departing the company. Lehto founded studio V1 in 2014, which struggled to find an audience for its experimental hoverbike FPS-RTS, Disintegration, before shutting down in 2021.
Lehto moved on to Ridgeline under EA that same year, with the studio said to be working on FPS games. It was later revealed that Lehto was director of narrative on the Battlefield franchise under the overall leadership of Respawn co-founder Vince Zampella.
It seemed like a good fit, with Lehto applying his expertise in FPS campaigns to revive the single player element of the historically multiplayer-focused series. Battlefield’s most recent entry, the once-maligned, now-redeemed 2042, did not have a single player campaign.
Lehto has not made a statement regarding the change, but has updated his LinkedIn and Twitter bio to reflect that his time in the position ended this month. I have reached out to EA for comment, and will update this story if I hear back.
As for what Lehto’s departure means for Battlefield, a leadership shakeup like this is never an encouraging sign, while DannyonPC also notes that Ridgeline’s art director, Chris Matthews, left the company for Halo steward 343 Industries in January.